Whether you’re a native speaker, bilingual, fluent, or just conversational in German, when you set off on your professional German teaching adventure, you may become a bit demotivated once you arrive at the first challenge: finding a German learner who wants private tutorials.

In terms of academic support, students of the German language are your customers.

Have you recently decided to become a tutor of German as a foreign language? Do you want to start your German lessons as soon as you can?

Your students won’t just come directly to you because you’re a great tutor who can speak German. You have to find people interested in language learning and speaking German!

In the UK, the private tutorials market is growing!Over a third of students get some form of academic support during their schooling and the market itself is valued at £2bn! While these numbers vary around the country, the North East is where the going’s good since nearly half of all students have had some form of private tuition.

Whether you’re a student, a teacher with a side hustle, or a retired teacher: you need to get yourself on the market.

With the right approach and some advice, finding students for your German tutorials will be child’s play!

Find Students On-line for German Lessons

Private tutorials, especially foreign language tutorials, have been greatly affected by the Internet boom in recent years and there are now plenty of ways for people to find free German online resources on how to speak it as well as resources about the language itself, its culture, and German speaking countries.

The internet is a great place for finding students for your tutorials. (Source: Sabri Tuzcu)

In a world where every search takes place online, it’s important to understand how important this can be.

There are several ways you can make yourself known as a German tutor for tutor jobs and start teaching people how to speak German about German speaking countries and cultures.

It’s up to you to find which methods are effective and there’s not one single channel that will be the magic solution. Why not combine them and get even better results?

Organisations Specialising in Academic Support

If you want to become a German tutor and make yourself known, you can always head to organisations that specialise in that sort of thing.

Do you want to provide homework help, A Level tutoring for secondary school students or prepare a student for a German grammar test?

Signing up to a number of these platforms can be really advantageous. Since they tend to have a great on-line presence, they’ll help your visibility.

They can also act as a proof of your ability in your second language for your potential students. One less thing for you to worry about!

Some of these organisations pre-date the internet and they have even physical agencies with walls and everything!

Their main benefit is that you don’t have to worry as much about certain steps.

They will put you in touch with students but you’ll have to pass a test first. You should also be aware that they can also take up to 50% of the price of every single one of your tutorials. Ouch!

The other specialised private tutorial organisations are called “pure players”. This means that they are only on-line and, thanks to the internet, a lot more of them have come about in recent years.

Generally speaking, they only charge for putting you in contact with students but you can contactthem by phone or email if you need to.

Superprof is one of the “pure players”. If you want to provide German language tutorials, you just need to put up your advert. You won’t need to pay anything when you sign up and there’s no commission on your tutorials.

General Classifieds Sites

Some tutors go to general classifieds sites, such as Craigslist. Admittedly, these aren’t specialised in academic support tutorials but they are democratised. Sites like these are hugely popular in the UK and have a greater reach than specialised tutorial websites.

Some students may be attracted to adverts on these sites for learning German quickly. After having prepared your German tutorials, get yourself on these sites!

Social Networks

If you want to help students learn to speak German as a second language, you can also head over to social networks and make yourself known.

Don’t forget to look for students who want to learn more about German language and culture for their studies or their careers or are interested in taking a German language course just to learn a few German phrases, expressions, and greetings.

It’s a good idea to use their main means of communication in order to engage with them and then draw them in.

Your students are using social media. Why aren’t you? (Source: Wilfred Iven)

There are tonnes of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, etc.

“I just want to become a tutor and teach them a language to help them at school. Why do I need to go through all this rigmarole?”

You don’t need to sign up to every social network and spend all your time on them! Just make yourself a simple Facebook page and share a few articles about German culture that would be of interest to potential students.

You can also publish links to advice for studying German, homework sheets, and exam advice, etc. This page could be used for students to leave comments on your tutorials. Encourage them to write a review on what they think about your tutorials and you as a tutor, etc.

LinkedIn is also a good way to make yourself known as a German tutor. The professional social network can act as your digital private tutor business card.

Create a Website

Why not make a simple website for your German tutorials or even help your students learn German online?

This is a great option if you’d like to increase your visibility. Creating your own website is often really simple (and free) thanks to platforms like WordPress.

After choosing your URL (choose a name relating to the fact that you teach a German course), you just have to write a few lines introducing yourself.

Make sure you head along to your nearest Institut for more information.

German Associations

There are several non-profit German associations who promote international friendship.

While their individual goals may vary, they can be really useful when it comes to expanding your German network.

After just a short conversation, you’ll probably find a few people who’d be interested in German classes.

Educational Establishments

The best places to find students are often places where there are lots of students, educational establishments and schools.

Most students spend most of their time at schools! Obviously…

Asking at German language schools could open doors. (Source: WDnet Studio)

Find them at the source! Academic support is considered an effective addition to traditional classes.

German Teachers

Meet German teachers working in schools! Just like you, they’ve studied and taught German and can share their experience with you.

They’ll also be aware of which students could do with tutorials and you’ll be helping them out by helping their students improve their German vocabulary, grammar, and gain fluency, etc.

Classifieds

If you want to become a German tutor, you should head to schools’ and universities’ notice boards. You can usually find them for students to leave messages. Stick up one of your adverts for private tutorials. To stand out in the crowd, make an attractive advert and don’t forget to include your details.

Word of Mouth

Don’t forget that word of mouth still exists. This is when a happy customer talks to their peers and recommends a product or service and it works great for academic support!